Playing with fire
by jessib91
Summary: PC Rosie Johnston is playing with fire. First theres her gun running drug dealing ex husband who is subject to a CID investigation. Then theirs the guy she slept with the night before her first day. She finds herself in the flames CHAPTER 7 UP NOW!
1. Chapter 1

I sashay over towards the bar to order my drink. The barman looks up at me.

"What can I get you love?" He asks in a cockney accent.

"Vodka and Coke please mate" replies my Geordie voice. I'm in merry spirits but I see a man sitting with his head just about in his pint next to where I'm standing and I decide to play the good Samaritan and make it my business to cheer this man up. The barman comes back with my drink and I ask for 4 tequila's. He comes back and I pay for them all. I push two over to him and he looks up.

"Care to join me?" I ask. He smiles but it doesn't reach his eyes. I pick my shot up, he does the same, we clink the glasses and knock it back before doing the same with the other. The tequila hits the back of my throat and my taste buds, the bitter taste causes me to twist my face before goose bumps start to appear. I smile at the man who's now smiling at the face I made, this time his eyes have melted a little. He extends his hand and introduces himself.

"Rosie." I say "Would you like to join me and my friends?"

He agrees and 11 tequila shots and 14 vodka and cokes later I'm taking him back to my new flat.

I wake up the next morning tangled up with him. My head is banging. I can feel the sick threatening to come up. It stays in my stomach making me feel nauseous and queasy. I disentangle myself from him and make my way to the kitchen. I open the fridge and I come face to face with food. I dry retch as I run towards the sink. Fortunately I'm not sick. I decide against food and make myself a black coffee. I look at the clock as I'm gulping the steaming hot coffee that's burning my throat as I gulp it back.

"Shit!" I exclaim as I see that I have half an hour to be ready and at work. I run to the bathroom and I shower before returning to my room and grabbing some clothes. I leave a note for the man in my bed saying _Hi, I had to go to work, there's food in the fridge and plenty of coffee by the kettle, leave the key under the pot. Rosie_

I hurry from the house and past my car. I can't drive it when I'm this hungover. So I run to my brothers house 4 doors down and beg him to drop me off at work on his way to work. He reluctantly agrees and we set off. I arrive with one minute to spare. Inspector Smith gives me my uniform and sends me to the morning briefing.

"Right people DI Manson and DS Carter were meant to be taking the briefing but neither of them have arrived yet which is rather unusual. So luckily I know the basics and I can start the briefing for them." Inspector Smith drones on. My thoughts go back to the man in my bed and how I enjoyed last night with him. I hear my name mentioned as Inspector Smith introduces me. I wave my hand but I go back to last night. Suddenly the briefing room door is opened and two people come running in. I look behind me towards the door and I see him. I'm totally gobsmacked. My eyes are wide. I stare like an idiot at him. What have I done?


	2. Chapter 2

I managed to shut my mouth and blink before spinning around and shrinking on my chair. Oh My God! Why me? I sensed that one of them was walking to the front of the room. Please don't be him. I will die of embarrassment if it's him. I closed my eyes. If it is him please don't let him recognise me. I felt a pair of eyes bore into me but I was too much of a coward to open my eyes and meet the eyes of the man at the front of the room. I heard him whispering to Inspector Smith but it was inaudible. Inspector Smith spoke up so that the other man could hear him.

"PC Johnston may be of help to you on this case. She helped work the drugs squad up in Newcastle."

I heard a man greet me, only the voice wasn't the same as the man last night.

"PC Johnston are you okay?" I opened my eyes slowly. The man at the front wasn't him. I could relax a little.

"Yes sir, just a migraine."

"Well if you could follow us up to CID please."

"Sir"

I stood up, looking at the floor, dreading the man at the back seeing my face. Only when I eventually look up he's already walked out the room. And when I walk along the corridor I see him at the top of the stairs walking into what I assume to be CID. I took a deep breath at the door before walking in. I really didn't want to face this man. Heck, I can't even remember his name. So he's either my DI or my Sergeant. I walk into CID and I walk past the DI's office hoping to get an idea of which one's which only there both in there and there both at a filing cabinet talking. He looks like he is going to glance up at the window so I turn my head and I look towards a blonde female and a blonde male who seem to be winding each other up. I keep on walking and I bump into a well dressed, exquisite woman.

"Hi, I'm Grace Dasari, I'm a DC here."

"Nice to meet you Grace. I'm Rosie Johnston the new PC. You couldn't tell me where the toilets are could you?"

"Sure, they're just around the corner, down the corridor and on your 3 left."

"Thank you."

"No problem, I'll see you around."

I smile and I dash towards the loos. I walk straight up to the mirror and look at the face thats staring back at me. I see nothing but regret. I see nothing but a stupid girl in the mirror, that girl being me. And I feel nothing but embarrassment. I look at myself and I realise that I can beat myself up as much as I want, but the problem is still going to be there. I need to face him. I've made my bed, now I've got to lie in it. It's all caught up with me. And now I've got to face the problem head on. I splash my face with water and I wipe it dry with toilet roll. I walk out of the toilets and back to CID, I turn the corner and I realise which one is which. I see DI Neil Manson in his office and DS Max Carter at his Desk. Then I see the pictures being projected on the board. I see the picture of my ex husband looking back at me. Why the hell won't he leave me? I came to London to get away from him. He's just everywhere I look. And then I read that he is the suspect in a major drug deal. He's the person they've brought me in to investigate. I begin to walk to the front of the room when DI Manson comes out of his office and DS Carter stands up to speak to him I change my course and I decide to jump. I decide to take a chance. I walk over to them both.

"DI Manson!" I call. Both of them turn to look at me. Recognision flashed through one of the men's eyes. "That man is called James Steele, and he's my ex husband." I say as I point to the picture. I catch his eye and I stare into them, he returns the stare. One of them walks away. We remain shocked and transfixed by each other. I hear someone speaking to the rest of CID and then we're brought from each other's eyes and we walk over to join the rest of CID. He walks to the front to join the man speaking. And after they've told us who we're partnered with the whole team disperse. I, of course have been partnered with him.

"Rosie, would you mind bringing the printing I've just done down and I'll meet you by the car."

I nod. Of course he beat me to the car and I walk down the ramp. He gets into the driver's side and I in the passenger's side. And before we pull away I look over to him and I say his name. I say

"Max, about last night."


	3. Its OK babe, its my ex husband

"Rosie, last night I wasn't your superior."

"Max, I understand, I just wanted to say I've forgotten about it. It's in the past." I turned away from him and looked out of the window. How the hell could I forget about last night? It was amazing! We drove the rest of the way in silence. Now that they had James Steele's name they had set up an Obbo. We had rented a house opposite where he lives and we were setting up some gear.

"Max, he'll know what's going on as soon as he sees me."

"Actually, you're part of my way in. You're my girlfriend Rosie Johnston. I'm Max Cutler, and I run a gun outfit. I know about the questions asked up in Newcastle about whether you were helping him. I know they were never proved, but I know they were true. You loved him and you thought he loved you but he didn't, he only wanted information about what the police were doing and whether they were closing the net. I've seen it before Rosie. Time and time again. You're not the only one to fall for it."

"This was supposed to be a fresh start Max. And I'm back here again. Near him. I hate him Max. I just want to be far away from him."

"Rosie, we can put him away. You can put him away. That way you get him out of your life for good."

"If I see him again, I might not put him away, you might be putting me away. I don't trust myself Max. Please don't do this to me. I won't be able to stop myself. I'll kill him Max."

"I trust you Rosie. I know you can do this. You're a great cop. You just need to believe in yourself."

I smiled

"Thanks for the pep talk but it just isn't going to work." I said as I turned and stared out of the front windscreen.

"Rosie Johnston! Stop that defeatist attitude now!" Max exclaimed as I turned around to face him.

"I'll play along but don't come running to me if it all falls to pieces."My eyes met his and I had to break away from them and stare forward.

"Thank you."

I looked towards him and smiled before returning to staring out of the windscreen. We arrived at his new home and we got out of the car. He came over and put his arm around me and led me in. We came out having set a few things up. He took my hand and pulled me towards him. He dipped his head and kissed me tenderly, nothing like last night. Last night it was desperate and passionate. He moved to my head and trailed them down the side of my face before whispering in my ear. The whisper tickled my ear and I had to bite my lip to stop myself from laughing.

"Steele is watching us from his driveway. He's walking over towards us."

I moved in to kiss him some more and pulled away. I could hear footsteps approaching. Max handed me his keys. My stomach knotted and twisted, I clenched my fists. Wanting desperately to hit the man that made an idiot out of me. I stood stiff. Holding myself together. Max took my hand and traced circles in my palm to calm me. I looked up through my eyelashes at him and he smiled encouragingly. With Max by my side I felt I could do anything. Shame it wasn't the same for him. I shouldn't fell this way about my superior.

"Well babe, duty calls." I said loud enough for James to hear. Max pulled me into another kiss.

"Hi, mate, I'm James Steele I live opposite you." He grinned.

"Yeah I see _mate!_" He made an emphasis on mate. "I'm Max Cutler." He introduced himself. Max turned me around so I was facing James. His face dropped when he saw me. His grin disappeared only to be replaced by a scowl. He glared at me threateningly. Trying to intimidate me.

"Stop looking at her like that _mate!_ It's not very polite now is it?" Max asked with authority.

"It's ok babe. That's my ex husband."

"Oh you mean that bastard that treat you like shit!"

"That's the one!"

Max withdrew his hand from mine, clenched his fist and threw it at James' face.


	4. Chapter 4

"This might sting a little" I said to Max as I dabbed the grazes on his knuckles with antiseptic. Max had escaped with grazed knuckles, Steele wasn't quite so lucky, he had a broken nose and a bust lip. I'd gotten into the middle of them and split it up.

"Ow Ow Ow Ow!" he moaned.

"Dont be such a softie."

"I'm not, it really hurts"

"Yes you are! I'm being as gentle as I can."

"Rosie, I'm sorry."

"What are you sorry for?"

"Doing what I did."

I smiled at him and looked into his eyes.

"I'm not! I'll never forget what you did for me. It was like you were trying to protect me, and I'll always be grateful." I looked down feeling shy.

He looked down and moved a piece of hair from my eyes, and tucked it behind my ears. He put his hand under my chin and lifted my head up so that we were almost touching and he crushed his lips onto mine, this time it was like last night, I responded and the next thing I knew we were standing up. He walked me over to the bench and lifted me on top of it. I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him closer, I began unloosening his shirt and he with mine, I was pulling him even closer to me, I could feel every part of him against me and it made me want him more, when we heard the doorbell ring. We jumped apart and began to button our shirts, I tucked mine in and put my jumper back on.

"Max, your lips!" I exclaimed as he was about to open the door.

"What about them?" he asked

"You've got my lipstick on them."

"Shit, you answer the door."

He ran upstairs to the bathroom. I opened the door to DI Manson. I gestured for him to follow me into the kitchen.

"DS Carter is just at the loo. I'm sure he won't be long. Do you want a cup of tea sir?"

"I'll have a coffee please, milk, two sugars."

I stood up and put the kettle on. And we both sat at the breakfast bar.

"Sir, can I ask what this is about?"

"Rosie, there's been a complaint made by James Steele about an assault on him by Max Cutler."

"Well thats it then isn't it. Max will get suspended and we won't get Steele."

"Actually it couldn't have worked better for you both, this is your chance to get him off and show you're bent. That way he'll see that Max is a crook."

"Now you say it sir, the more it sounds believable, so the game's not up yet?"

"It's just beginning." Said Neil

We heard the toilet flush and Max run down the stairs he burst into the kitchen and saw Neil sitting.

"What's wrong?" asked Max.

"Steele's reported you for assault. And Rosie is going to get you off. I've got to give the signal and the cavalry will come and arrest you."

"Okay." Max nodded.


	5. Chapter 5

Sorry that its been an absolute age since the last time i updated! I've been so busy with Uni and i've finally found the time to do some writing! I've also lost some of my inspiration not having the Bill on my screen anymore!

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Max nodded at Neil and the two exchanged looks. Neil picked his radio and told Nate and Ben to "go go go!"

The next thing we heard was the sirens approaching the house and then the knock on the door. I answered and Ben winked at me before asking "PC Gayle and PC Roberts is Mr Cutler in?"

"Yes he is. Can I ask why you want him?"

"There has been a report of assault and Mr Cutler has been named by the victim as his attacker."

I nodded and let them both in I saw my ex husband wink at me and smirk. I gave him my best death glare and turned to join the officers in the house.

They immediately arrested Max and dragged him outside. Max was playing it well struggling against the officers. Steele glanced over and flashed a massive smirk at Max who reacted angrily. In the short space of time I'd spent with Max I knew the difference between his real anger and his acted anger and I could see that James was doing a good job at rubbing Max up the wrong way. I knew then that this was for the most part going to be far from easy. I saw James walk over towards us and I decided that now was the time to speak up.

"Ben, Nate I've been with Max all afternoon and he hasn't been anywhere near that man."

"You say he hasn't?"

"Yeah, he's been with me all afternoon. "

"Are you sure?"

"We spent the afternoon in bed so of course I'm sure."

"Rosie we need a statement off you so could you come down to the station please."

I nodded

I turned from Nate and Ben to face James and I winked and smirked at him. Feeling great about myself, finally getting one over on James.

We arrived at the station and they took my statement releasing Max without charge.

Max and I walked out from the station and got into my car we returned to our home near James. We pulled up into the drive and Steele stood at the end of his drive. We got out of the car and I smirked at James. I hurried over to Max and crushed my lips onto his. Pushing my body up against him. Enjoying the kiss maybe a little too much. I moved away and I shouted over to James.

"RELEASED WITHOUT CHARGE! NEXT TIME THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU'RE DOING!"

We turn away holding hands and Max is grinning at me.

"I'm proud of you Rosie. I really am."

We made our way inside. We watched some TV and ordered take away. We were snuggled up on the couch. I'd never felt safer than I did in Max's arms. I was smiling at that fact. He looked down and chuckled. I looked up at him confused and he kissed me on the head. "Why you grinning like the cat that got the cream?" he asks.

"Because this cat did get the cream." I tease as I move my hand onto his and fold my fingers into his so that our hands are intertwined and I stand up gently pulling him up. He smiles at me. I lead him up the stairs and we fall onto the bed. I'm lying snuggled into his chest. He kisses me on the head.

"Goodnight Max." I whisper.

"Sweet dreams Rosie." He whispers back.

I began to fall into a disturbed sleep dreaming of all of the things that could go wrong throughout this investigation. When I hear a crash, I jump with a start. I realise that I'm no longer in Max's arms so I turn over to nudge him awake and his outline isn't there. I reach out to make sure and he isn't there. My breath catches. My eyes widen. My First thoughts? James Steele. The adrenaline starts pumping and every possibility of what may have happened flashes through my mind. I jump from the bed and I run. Not understanding how I'm able to carry myself when I'm this scared. But I realise that I have to get to Max. I'm now running down the stairs. I take the turn a bit wide and I nearly run into the wall, I carry on into the kitchen stumbling a few times. I run into the door and I fumble with the handle. I eventually prise it open and I shriek, horrified at the scene in front of me!


	6. Chapter 6

I'm back again! sorry about the cliff hanger on the last one! Uni is going really well at the moment!

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I somehow managed to close my mouth and take in my surroundings. There was blood splattered all over the glossy white tiles and along the white cupboard doors. I took a few apprehensive steps into the room and I could feel the cold smooth tiles under me. The room was freezing and my hair was whipping around my face, both patio doors were wide open. I found myself walking over towards the doors to check outside. I saw someone or something move down at the bottom of the garden by the fence. I couldn't manage to make my legs move. I was shaking with the cold now. Goosebumps were appearing along my whole body! My feet were numb. Stray tears were falling down my cheeks onto my chin and then dropping at my feet. I look around the room cuddling my body, trying to get some warmth into me. All I could feel was cold on my bare legs, arms and chest. The shorts and vest top weren't really doing a good job of keeping what's covered warm either. I turned around scanning the kitchen for Max, I couldn't see him anywhere. I was worrying now. What does James want with Max? If James has him then we have no chance! James doesn't take any prisoners! I shouldn't have been so arrogant and pigheaded with James earlier! He's doing this to get back at me! This is my fault! I told Max it wouldn't work! I can't have Max's death on my conscience either. I know James can kill! I chose to ignore it and I wished I hadn't ignored it! I wish I had shopped him to the police when I had the chance even if it meant incriminating myself and losing my job, it would be worth it to see him go down. I looked to the floor and saw drops of blood on the wood flooring, I followed the trail towards the dining area and heard a grunt. I saw a familiar figure lying in a heap on the floor in a pool of his own blood.

"Max? Honey?"

"Ro-ssss-ie"

"Yes, baby it's me." I knelt down on the floor beside him "Where are you hurting?"

"All o-vvver." He replied causing me to check him over and see the knife sticking out of his side.

"Max, stay calm honey, I'm going to ring an ambulance. You need to go to hospital!"

"Don't l-eeave mmm-e"

"I have to baby, we need to get you to hospital. I'm just going to run and get the phone and I'll be straight back! Hang in there!"

I jumped up from my kneeling position and ran to the living room for the cordless phone dialling the number for the station. I put the phone to my ear as I was walking back to Max.

"Hi, Inspector Dale Smith how can I help you."

"Sir, it's Rosie, Max has been stabbed. Will you get the ambulance here quicker please, He's losing a lot of blood!"

"Sierra Oscar from 1, Ambulance required immediately at 9 Rose Gardens, Canley. Officer has been stabbed. Back up from Police also required. Rosie, Look after him. We'll be there soon!"

"Thanks sir."

I ran back to Max with the phone still in hand. I lay down beside him and kissed his sweating head. I stroked his hair and kissed his lips delicately.

"Ro-ssss-ie, I'm P-lll-eee-ased I'm w-iii-tt-h you!"

"shhhhh... There's nowhere I'd rather be than right here with you!" I said as I wiped the sweat from his forehead and left a kiss on it. I stood up and ran towards the door answering it to the paramedics who made their way in with their medical supplies.

"Are you okay love?" asked one of the paramedics as they walked through the house.

"What?" I said quickly as I looked down and saw the blood stains all down my white vest and shorts, on the side of my arm and even on my hands which I'd itched my chest with and transferred blood onto my chest "Yes, not my blood." The paramedics then saw Max on the floor and ran over to him, trying to stabilise him and putting some fluids into him.

"There's no pulse!" one of the paramedics called out.

"Start CPR, I'll get the defib!" the other shouted. They'd already turned him onto his back and one was giving CPR whilst the other attatched the pads onto his chest and called "Stand clear!" before shocking him. The next thing I knew my legs turned to jelly and gave way, I didn't have the strength to hold myself up and I began to sink to the ground, tears were running down my face. I was hysterical. It was like all of my strength had been zapped all of a sudden. I realised I should have hit the floor by now and I opened my eyes to see someone's arms wrapped around my waist, he held me up and turned me around holding me close to him. I could feel his crisp white shirt underneath me. He pulled me away so I was looking into his eyes. "Lets get you out of here, change these clothes and bag them." I nodded. Smithy led me up the stairs into the bedroom and shouted for a female officer to come up. Mel came jogging into the bedroom and Smithy nodded.

"I'll just be outside let me know when you're finished."

I nodded at him and turned taking the bloody clothes off, and passed them to Mel who had her latex gloves on and packaged them in the packaging for forensics. I walked over to the en suite and washed the blood from my hands, chest, arms, legs and forehead and returned to the bed room, opening the wardrobe and pulling on a pair of tracksuit bottoms, a t-shirt and a hoodie, putting socks on and a pair of old trainers. Before Mel called for Smithy to come back. I saw the state of Smithy's shirt. "Sorry about the shirt Sir."

"It's fine Rosie. Does Max have a spare shirt I can wear till I get back to work?"

"Yeah take your pick, its that wardrobe over there." I said as I pointed over.

Smithy unbuttoned his shirt and passed it to Mel who packaged that separately, he took out a white shirt to wear till he got to the nick and fastened it up before coming and giving me a hug. Mel put her arms around me and led me downstairs towards the cop car. I looked up at James Steele's window opposite and saw him standing with a glass of Whiskey he made a celebratory cheers motion and smirked at me, nodding before closing his curtain. I looked at him with contempt. What killed me the most right now was when i looked over to the ambulance and i realised that i still didnt know whether Max was alive or dead!

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Sorry about the cliffhanger again!

Thanks for the reviews, I'm pleased people are still reading even after such a long break! xxxx


	7. Chapter 7

Sorry it's been a while again! i** wasnt sure where to take the story from after chapter 5 and chapter 6 went into a direction i'd never planned to take along with this chapter. I still have no idea where to take it so if anyone has any ideas please let me know**. DarknessDeadly sorry about the last cliff hanger, but i must warn you there could be more xx

Thanks for the reviews they are greatly appreciated. xxxx

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I sat in the waiting room just staring blankly into space. I felt a tear roll down my cheek. I wiped it away and sniffed. I exhaled a deep breath that I didn't know I was holding. I looked down at the floor trying to compose myself. I heard the door open and I felt my breath catch in my chest, my head was thumping and I closed my eyes to try to stop the tears that were threatening to fall. I managed to breathe properly and compose myself as best as I could. I lifted my head up slowly and saw Smithy standing in the doorway with two polystyrene cups. He smiled at me and I looked at him, my eyes heavy, expectantly.

"They've took Max into theatre to stop the bleeding. They said the damage was caused when the knife was removed. The wound was clean until that point but as the knife was pulled out it sliced into Max's liver. That is what is causing him to lose the most blood. They need to deal with that."

I nodded. Closing my eyes and taking a deep breath.

"Did they say how long they'd be?" I asked Smithy. He shook his head.

"I'm sorry Rosie. They said they wouldn't know until they got him into theatre."

"Thanks Smithy." He walked over and sat down beside me. He put an arm around my shoulders. I felt the tears prickling my eyes. I tried to collect myself.

"I brought you a cup of coffee." He said handing me one of the polystyrene cups. I leant onto Smithy's shoulder, my eyes, which were really heavy were threatening to close which they eventually did and I began to doze off when suddenly all of the blood, Max lying on the floor in pain and the paramedics doing CPR on Max and James mocking me flashed through my mind and I woke with a start. I was overcome with tears, they were spurting out and I could barely breathe.

"I told him this wouldn't work. I warned him. He wouldn't be in this state if he'd bloody well listened to me. But he has to be Max the bloody hero! If he gets through this I'll bloody well kill him myself!"

Smithy came over to me and tried to pull me into a hug. "Smithy, don't." I said stepping back "It'll only make me worse. And I can't be worse."

"Rosie you need some sleep."

"I can't, every time I close my eyes I see Max on the floor and all the blood and the paramedics doing CPR. And then at the very end I see James with his class of whiskey raising it in a cheers motion." I put my head in my hands and rubbed my eyes with my thumb sitting up and looking Smithy in the eye. I smiled a sad smile at him and he leaned in and kissed me on the head.

"He'll pull through Rosie. Max is a fighter. He wouldn't want you losing sleep over this. We'll get Steele one way or another." The way Smithy said that last part he seemed intent and that's what scared me the most. I didn't want someone else to get hurt. I had to deal with this myself. I would bring James down. As soon as I spoke to Max I'd go straight to the police and admit everything that happened up in Newcastle. I didn't care as long as Steele was out of the way. I'd lose my job and maybe go to jail but if it meant that Max would be safe I'd take that chance. James killed me and then Max came along and he reawakened me again. I felt alive again. Just then a door opened it was a doctor. She looked at me with sorrowful eyes and then put her head down.

"No! He can't be." The tears began pouring from my eyes "Max, he's a fighter. He can't be." Smithy pulled me into his arms hugging me close and shushing me.

"I'm sorry Miss Johnston, Mr Cutler arrested again in theatre. We did everything we could but unfortunately it wasn't enough. I'm so sorry for your loss."

"Can I see him?" I asked.

The doctor smiled sadly "Yes. You can. Follow me."

Smithy looked at me. I took his hand.

"Please come with me."

Smithy nodded and we walked along the corridor in silence behind the doctor. We were led into a side room and the doctor closed the door behind the three of us.

"Guv, Grace, Max what the hell is going on?" I said whilst walking towards Max's bed and taking his hand. He smiled at me. "You really scared me you know."


End file.
